1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices utilized to control the spread of ectoparasite-borne diseases and, more particularly, to an improved apparatus for feeding and applying pesticides onto animals, particularly wildlife such as deer.
2. Description of the Background
A variety of diseases are transmitted to humans and animals by ectoparasites such as ticks. Certain species of wildlife, such as white-tailed deer, propagate and harbor large populations of ectoparasites in direct proximity to areas populated by humans and their domesticated pets. An effective strategy for the prevention of disease transmission through the control of ectoparasites includes the pesticidal treatment of such wildlife found in and around human-populated areas. Unfortunately, direct treatment can be challenging, especially with species that are not easily captured, restrained or otherwise handled directly. Thus, access to wildlife in order to control ectoparasites remains a challenging problem,
There have been prior efforts to develop devices that passively (and surreptitiously) apply pesticides to wildlife. One noteworthy example by a subset of the present inventors is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,983 to Pound et al. As shown in FIG. 1, the Pound et al. '983 patent discloses an apparatus for feeding and applying pesticides onto animals, particularly wildlife such as deer. This device includes a feed supply bin 20 that spills feed into either side of an open-topped receptacle 10. A pair of spaced apart vertical support members 30 carry pesticide applicators 31 positioned near the sides of the receptacle 10. Pesticide applicators 31 are positioned on each of the support members 30, and are adapted to apply pesticide onto an animal upon contact therewith. Pesticide is automatically supplied, for example, from pesticide reservoirs 50 at the lower end of each applicator 31 that wick pesticide into the absorbent material of the applicator. While the concept of the Pound et al. '983 device is excellent, the structural features leave room for improvement both functionally and to achieve manufacturing economy. For example, the vertical support members 30 in the aforementioned apparatus are rigid and may obstruct (or certainly do not adapt to) wildlife as they crane their heads and/or necks to feed and, therefore, may not apply adequate pesticide. Moreover, the design suggested by Pound et al. '983 was intended for sheet metal construction, thereby resulting in sharp edges that might cut the animals and susceptibility to oxidation. In addition, the entire product had to be fully assembled at the factory and shipped as a unit. This was very heavy and expensive. It has been found that a more economical modular design more suited for molded construction allows ready solutions to the foregoing problems (the Pound '983 design is not well-suited for molding). A modular molded product is comparatively lightweight, and the components can be shipped for user-assembly, thereby saving significant shipping and manufacturing costs. Therefore, there remains a need for a like device possessing an improved means for accommodating wildlife of all sizes (inclusive of all species of deer, cattle, antelope, elk, etc.), and which is formed by a simple, scalable, durable and economically mass-producible design which can be manufactured wholly or partly by molding in order to provide for more widespread use.